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Eternal Ecuador: A South American Dream

Hello all, this is my first ever attempt at an AAR, and my first time playing Ecuador, so it should be exciting for me. I'll be playing the VIP mod, which I'm still pretty new to, so I'm really not sure where I expect this AAR to go! I'll be updating every four years of in-game play, unless something warrants a whole update in itself, or if those four years are mind-numbingly dull.

Goals:
1. Become a stable democracy

1a. Avoid the rise of radical parties

2a. Attract immigrants from Europe

2. Become more industrialized than Colombia and Peru

3. Become a player in the Pacific: preferably the South Pacific

While there is no hope of even coming close to being a Great Power, I would be more than satisfied with a top 12 (or even top 15) finish. It'll be a bumpy ride, I'm sure! If anyone has suggestions or feedback, I'd love to hear it. I'll get started tonight sometime, wish me luck!

Chapter 1: 1836-1840

Ecuador starts as a backwater country lodged between the much larger countries of Bolivia and Colombia. The population and military are both disappointingly small, and there are plenty of ethnic minorities, while the only accepted national culture is North Andean. The economic outlook is equally grim, as the four westernmost provinces provide lumber, Quitos and Esmeraldas produce fruit, Loja produces livestock, and Guayaquil produces sugar: there is a decided lack of wealthy exports. However, there is one good thing going for Ecuador: it begins the game as ademocracy.

(Note: I don't have deep knowledge of Ecuadorian history. I will create historical figures as needed, although Juan

Jose Flores is a real historical figure.)

Chapter 1: 1 January 1836- 1 January 1840

El Presidente, Frederico Utilisante, was been elected after a campaign promising to improve education, promote the welfare of the lower classes, and improve production efficiency. As such, his first act as President was to increasefunding for education, set voting rights to "Suffrage," and decrease military spending. The Liberal Party, of which he was a member, dominated the parliament and hastily passed these measures. Ecuador had taken her first steps out of complacency with the unfortunate status quo.

Immigrants began arriving late in 1836, North Germans and Ashkenazis. They were welcomed with open arms, and integrated into society as much as possible. President Utilisante floated the idea of creating government programs to teach Spanish to these immigrants, but the idea was shot down due to budgetary issues.

All was not well for President Utilisante, though, and after the first year in office, his party was showing pretty badly in early polls. Worse yet, it was trailing to the radical reactionary Jesuit Party. El Presidente, infamous for delusions of grandeur, decided that drastic steps must be taken to shore up support for his rule. That opportunity would come sooner than expected.

In early January, Chile declared war on Ecuador's southern neighbor, Bolivia. El Presidente saw this as an opportunity to garner support for his government, and asked his trusted Minister of War, Juan Jose Flores, to draw up a war plan for a quick offensive war. President Utilisante wanted only one province, and minimal casualties. Minister Flores presented the President with just such a plan, and war was declared on 28 January, 1837.

Argentina seemed to have similar intentions, and declared war on Bolivia in May of that same year, forcing the embattled Bolivians to fight three different enemies on three different fronts. Iquitos, the original target of the war, was taken in August 1837. President Utilisante decided, however, that he would not immediately sue for peace and demand that province, as was the original plan. Smelling blood, and hearing reports of rebel armies marauding through the heart of Bolivia, he ordered Minister Flores to draw up a plan that would see yet another Bolivian province fall into Ecuadorian hands. Piura was liberated on Christmas Day, and a peace arranged by New Years: Iquitos and Piura would be ceded to Ecuador.

The revised battle plan:

President Utilisante was shocked to find that the war, which he assumed would be lauded as a fine example of a small country defeating the evils of a tyrannical neighbor, saw his war with Bolivia as nothing more than a land-grab, and Ecuador's reputation was tarnished accordingly. His popularity dwindled, and by April of 1839, he was facing an imminent election disaster. A rebellion against his percieved ineptitude broke out in Piura, and when word reached Quito, Minister Flores himself led the army against the rebels. After several days of brutal urban combat, Flores and his troops successfully sent the revolutionaries scrambling across the border into the mountains of Bolivia.After several months licking their wounds, the rebels returned to Piura, but were once again sent packing by Minister Flores.

Flores, now regarded as a war hero, was well aware of his popularity, and was something of a schemer. Exploiting the weak political position of the president, he formed his own political party, the Conservative Party of Ecuador. President Utilisante knew he would be defeated in the upcoming elections, and feared the power of the Jesuit Party, but came up with a suitable plan: he would resign in favor of Minister Flores, provided that Flores pledges that his Conservative Party of Ecuador refuses to give members of the Jesuit Party any government positions. Flores quickly accepted, and on 8 January 1839, became president of Ecuador.

President Flores had every intention of keeping his end of the deal. He, like his predecessor, despised the Jesuit Party, although he had altogether different means of combatting them: he announced that upcoming elections would be suspended for an indefinite amount of time. This announcement, which many (quite rightly) took as a proclamation of a new presidential dictatorship, caused the supporters of the Jesuit Party to become increasingly militant, culminating with a revolution just east of Quito in December of 1839. As President Flores marched on the rebels, the fate of Ecuador was very much hanging in the balance.

President Flores, now serving as a dictator, set several goals for his first years as president.
1. He knew that the radical reactionary Jesuit Party was a major threat to Ecuador. At the time of his ascension, they were polling around 55%-60% - a sizeable and alarming majority. Flores vowed to stomp out the reactionaries, in the name of a stable Ecuador.

2. Ecuador's international reputation had been badly damaged by the successful war with Bolivia. In order to find a decent alliance and get first picks on the international market, that reputation must be restored. Flores promised to increase it by at least 20 points (up to -10. That war was a prestige nightmare) by the end of the 1840s.

As 1840 began, Flores found himself marching on Archidona to put down a violent revolt, undoubtedly instigated by the Jesuit Party. Shortly after the President was done purging the revolutionaries from Archidona, another revolt broke out in Piura, this one more of a violent mob torching businesses and schools. That threat was also eliminated, but two weeks after had peace been established, a second revolt began in Piura, with the rebels being in even greater numbers than the other, although they were no match for Flores. The revolts were becoming increasingly frequent, and it became clear that the government was beginning to lose control, despite consistently winning battles against the rabble.

First Battle of Archidona:

On August 28, 1842, Ecuador's Security Minister was assassinated in Iquitos while on a tour of police facilities in the southern provinces. President Flores quickly condemned the attack, and four Jesuit Party officers were arrested in connection with the murder, but the damage had already been done: the conservatives, supporters of President Flores, began to fear that the government no longer maintained control outside of the northeastern provinces.

Peru declared itself independent in the first week of June, 1842. President Flores made a note to keep an eye on the new southern neighbor; if Peru found itself in a state of civil disorder or war, Ecuador could sweep in and grab some of the northern provinces to help bolster their weak but serviceable economy.

The new Peruvian state:
Meanwhile, January of 1843 saw the completion of the first census. Much to the government's chagrin, it found that the immigrant communities of North Germans and Ashkenazis had left Ecuador, probably for the greener pastures of the USA. This left Flores furious, as both he and former President Utilisante had listed the attraction of immigrants as a top priority. Due to budgetary issues, little could be done, but plans were designed to institute reforms by 1850, which would hopefully attract immigrant once implemented.

Archidona, the province neighboring Quito to the east, revolted again in May of 1843. Per usual, Flores took control of the army and crushed the rebels. In September of that year, however, another revolt broke out in Archidona, this one far more dangerous. The province, a hotbed of reactionary politics, fell to the rebels before Flores and his army could arrive. The battle that ensued when Flores reached the province was surprisingly brief, although the systematic weeding out of rebels would take some time, and when January 1 1844 rolled around, the President of Ecuador found himself leading a counter-revolutionary struggle within a three days ride of the capital. Ecuador was surely in for a bumpy ride.

@ CatKnight: There's a little window, usually six months to a year or so, that Bolivia is having big revolt issues, as well as war with Chile and often Argentina (before Peru is independent). I knew I had to act fast, as their armies were occupied fighting the Chileans, and I needed to sue for peace before the occupied provinces became part of Peru. It's a bit gamey, I know, but if I didn't act then, I wouldn't have another good shot to expand in South America for quite a few years.

@ Treppe: Thanks for the warning about 1859, I didn't know that! Talk about a potential nightmare...I wanted to get the political situation ironed out before I worried too much about industrialization or immigration. I've got the next update ready, and it'll go more in depth about the political situation. It should be up later tonight or tomorrow morning some time.

As 1844 began, President Flores found himself in a familiar position: fighting rebels in Archidona. The rebels were cleared in late January, and at that point President Flores determined that drastic steps would need to be taken. As the vast majority of the rebels are farmers and labourers, especially from the western lumber camps, he announced a 6% tax cut for the working class. Shortly after the tax cuts came into effect, several prominent dissidents renounced violent opposition to the government, and the militancy of the population drops drastically. As a result, the Jesuit Party, polling around 55% in 1843, began to fracture and implode. By the middle of February, 1844, the party had dropped to below 10% in public opinion polls. President Flores took credit for the herculean feat, crediting his tax program and military victories. This greatly alienated the rest of the Conservative Party of Ecuador, who decided in a closed meeting that they would part ways with Flores at the first possible chance, as he had served his purpose (crushing the rebels) and would now only harm party efforts to modernize Ecuador.

On March 7 1845, the Conservative Party of Ecuador notified Flores that they were withdrawing their support of his presidency, and he could either resign or face a certain defeat in an in-party confidence vote. The two parties reached a compromise allowing Flores to remain president until general elections could be held on 8 December, after which he was to enter voluntary exile.

A Disgraced Flores is Ousted:

The election campaign was fairly dull, as the Conservative Party of Ecuador had no real opposition; the Jesuit Party was fractured and a shell of what it had once been, and the Liberal Party was still reeling from the failed Utilisante administration despite encouraging foreign professors to give lectures on the merit of liberalism throughout the state of Quito. Predictably, the Conservative Party of Ecuador won in a landslide, collecting over 80% of the votes cast.

As the results were announced in a ceremony outside the Presidential Estate in Quito, Flores, escorted by his bodyguards, bid a tearful farewell to the gathering of people in the front lawn of the mansion. After kissing the flag of Ecuador, an iconic moment now immortalized in paintings and stories, he boarded a buggy that would carry him to a ship bound for Costa Rica, where he would remain in exile.

Luis Rocio, the former Minister of Culture under both Flores and Utilisante, was sworn in as president on Christmas Eve, 1845. In his first speech to the people of Ecuador, he promised to bring Ecuador out of its isolation and restore its tarnished international relation. He was surprisingly quiet regarding the Jesuit Party and revolutions of the early 1840s, although must pundits praised this tactic, noting that it focused on the future, not the turmoils of the past. He also pledged to institute a pension program in spring of 1849, hoping to attract immigrants to work in the orchards and lumber camps that served as the backbone of the Ecuadorian economy.

However, only two months into the new presidency, a scandal broke. Rumours surfaced that President Rocio was having an extended affair with a woman who had bore him several illegitimate children. While on a tour of livestock ranches in Loja, the president was confronted by a journalist who claimed to have concrete proof of yet another affair. Without consulting his aides or preparing his comments in advance, the new president candidly admitted to the affairs, and begged public forgiveness, noting that he was a good father to his illegitimate children and provided for the welfare of both his children and mistress, who was a former aide to President Flores. The scandal was a setback to Rocio's goal of building Ecuador's reputation, although the electorate seemed willing to forgive him, and his popularity poll numbers remained steady at 83%.

Ecuador's luck began to turn in 1847, when a scholar published the groundbreaking work "The Neo-Kantian Manifesto" in Quito. The book, which quickly became popular among philosophes as far as Moscow and Istanbul, put Ecuador on the map and helped mark the end of the chain of international embarrassments.

President Rocio put tremendous emphasis on the need to break the political isolation that had consumed the nation during the recent period of instability. Initial efforts to forge an alliance with Colombia were twice rejected, and Rocio became somewhat dejected, fearing that the isolationist policies of his predecessors would haunt the entirety of his presidency. He was pleasantly surprised on November 17 of 1847, when Guatemala, another backwater nation that emerged from the ruins of the USCA, proposed an alliance. While initially reluctant to join an alliance with such a small, distant nation, President Rocio accepted the offer when he learned that Mexico was also a member of the alliance, and that the Guatamalan military was currently crushing an independent Yucatan.

The isolation is broken:

As 1848 came to a close, President Rocio couldn't help but feel that Ecuador was moving on the right path: it was in a decent alliance, literacy rates were steadily improving, the rebellions that dominated the first half of the decade were no more, and Ecuador's image was slowly being rebuilt. He also knew, however, that his nation had only taken the first steps into the future, and more would have to follow in order for Ecuador to be anything more than a second rate mountain country, nothing more than a footnote in history books.

Ecuador, a nice little country in the middle of the Andes! Excellent start, and I must ask, what ever do you plan on doing with a military alliance with Guatemala? An invasion of S. Mexico perhaps? And the Conservatives are dominating the elections! Surely this is the reason why Ecuador is on a good path.

Ecuador, a nice little country in the middle of the Andes! Excellent start, and I must ask, what ever do you plan on doing with a military alliance with Guatemala? An invasion of S. Mexico perhaps? And the Conservatives are dominating the elections! Surely this is the reason why Ecuador is on a good path.

Guatemala should prove useful if I decide to venture into Central America, as the war with Yucatan established them as the dominant power in the region. I sort of hope they drag me into a war against one of their lesser neighbors - a good chance to get some war indemnities. However, I'll need to work on a building up a navy - clipper convoys are too expensive right now, as sad as that is.

"Sunset Invasion isn't ASB - it's just Prawnstar playing CK2" Athalcor"If EU3 had exiled prawn-like aliens he'd be the first one to do a WC with them..." aldriq"You were prawn under a conquering stAAR!" Arakhor

I wanted to get the political situation ironed out before I worried too much about industrialization or immigration.

I just do it the other way round, Control the politics by promoting pops etc.
just another remark in 1859 there might be an event that automatically makes you an reactionary presidential dctatorship I guess you want avoid that. So better check the trigges.

This is the first time I've strayed into Vicky AARland in months and I find a nice gameplay focused AAR about an obscure minor.

Excellent stuff, I'm enjoying

Thanks for the kind words! It means a lot, coming from one of the players of Fine Feats with Finland (my favourite SG).

Sad News! The save file was corrupted. I'll ask you all how to continue: should I start again from scratch, or try to make the same decisions I did the first time, play up to the point I was at, and pretend the corrupt save never happened?

Thanks for the kind words! It means a lot, coming from one of the players of Fine Feats with Finland (my favourite SG).

Sad News! The save file was corrupted. I'll ask you all how to continue: should I start again from scratch, or try to make the same decisions I did the first time, play up to the point I was at, and pretend the corrupt save never happened?

Well start again, I once had a good game but I started it again and will post a new AAR.

"Sunset Invasion isn't ASB - it's just Prawnstar playing CK2" Athalcor"If EU3 had exiled prawn-like aliens he'd be the first one to do a WC with them..." aldriq"You were prawn under a conquering stAAR!" Arakhor

Good luck with attracting immigrants in the future. I've made Mexico, Brazil, USCA, and Chila immigrant heavens yet barely got any. The game is so biased towards the US in respect with immigration...well, that's history I guess...